Johannes Crellius (Polish: ''Jan Crell'', English: John Crell; 26 July 1590 in Hellmitzheim – 11 June 1633 in Raków) was a Polish and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Life

Johann Crell's father, Johann Crell Sr., was pastor of the church at Hellmitzheim, (today part of

Iphofen Iphofen is a town in the Kitzingen (district), district of Kitzingen in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 4,500. Iphofen is known for its rare complete medieval town wall and other historic buildings as well as for being Franconia (wi ...

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

District), in Franken, northern Bavaria. His son Krzysztof Crell-Spinowski (1622–1680), and his grandsons Christopher Crell Jr. M.D. of London (1658-), Samuel Crellius (1660–1747) and Paweł Crell-Spinowski (1677-), as well as his great-grandsons in Georgia, United States, were all proponents of

Socinian Socinianism ( ) is a Nontrinitarian Christian belief system developed and co-founded during the Protestant Reformation by the Italian Renaissance humanists and theologians Lelio Sozzini and Fausto Sozzini, uncle and nephew, respectively. I ...

views. Crellius moved to Poland at the age of 22, and quickly became known as one of the chief theologians of the Socinians, also known as Polish brethren. From 1613 he worked at the

Racovian Academy The Racovian Academy (') was a Socinian school operated from 1602 to 1638 by the Polish Brethren in Raków, Kielce County, Raków, Sandomierz Voivodeship of Lesser Poland. The communitarian Arianism, Arian settlement of Raków was founded in 1569 b ...

at Raków, of which he was the rector from 1616 to 1621. In 1630 he worked with Joachim Stegmann Sr. in the production of a German version of the Racovian New Testament.

Influence

Several of Crell's works were printed first by Rodecki and Sternacki at the printery of the

1602-1638. These and others then appeared as Vol.III-V of Frans Kuyper's ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant'' ("Library of the Polish Brethren called Unitarians") Amsterdam 1668 Crell also featured in Christopher Sand's bibliography and biographical collection ''

Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum The ''Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum'', or ''Antitrinitarian Library'', first published in 1684, is a posthumously published work of Christopher Sandius (English: Christopher Sand), an exiled Prussian Antitrinitarian in Amsterdam, who chronologica ...

'' (1684). These works were widely distributed being owned by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

and other Enlightenment thinkers. Two of Crell's works were translated into English. First, ''A Learned and Exceeding Well-Compiled Vindication of Liberty of Religion'' (London: 1646). Second, ''The Two Books ... Touching on God the Father: Wherein Many Things Also Concerning the Nature of the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit are Discoursed of''. The first edition was published in Konigsburg (1665). A second edition was published in London (1691). It was re-titled ''The Unity of God Answered and Defended'', but with the exception of the title page it was identical to the first edition.Jasnowski, 61 Knowledge of Crell's works passed out of the later generations of English Unitarians. However Thomas Belsham is one of the Unitarian authors who had access to Crell in the Latin and he repeatedly cites Crell in his ''The Epistles of Paul the Apostle Translated, with an Exposition, and Notes'' (1822).

Works

* 1623 ''Ad librum Hugonis Grotii quem de satisfactione Christi...'' - on

Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

. * 1630 ''De Deo et eius attributis...'' - on God and his attributes. * 1631 ''De uno Deo Patre libri duo'' - translated into English as ''The Two Books of John Crellius Francus on One God the Father'' * 1635 ''Prima ethices elementa'' - on the elements of ethics. * 1637 ''C. Vindiciae pro religionis liberate'' - on the freedom of conscience. * 1665 His works were published first (before Vol.I-II) as part of the series '' Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum'' by Frans Kuyper in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. ;Translations * ''A learned and exceeding well-compiled vindication of liberty of religion'' by Johann Crell * ''De la tolérance dans la religion ou de la liberté de conscience.'' Par Crellius. L'intolérance convaincue de crime et de folie. Ouvrage traduit de l'anglois. (French Edition) ;Misattributed * Hermann Cingallus ''Scriptura S. Trinitatis Revelatrix'' ( Gouda 1678) attributed by John Locke to Crell but

Robert Wallace (Unitarian) Robert Wallace (1791–1850) was an English Unitarian minister, now best known for his ''Antitrinitarian Biography'' (1850). Life He was born at Dudley, Worcestershire, on 26 February 1791. In 1808 he came under the influence of James Hews Bran ...

reattributes to

Christopher Sandius Christopher Sandius Jr. (Königsberg, October 12, 1644 – Amsterdam, November 30, 1680) was an Arian writer and publisher of Socinian works without himself being a Socinian. His name was Latinized as Christophorus Sandius, though his German name ...

* Icander ''Das fast auf dem höchsten Gipfel der Vollkommenheit prangende Dresden'', 1726 - a work by a Swedish architect on baroque Dresden with no connection to Socinianism, (cataloguing error by web-based reprint houses)

References

Jasnowski, Józef. "A Tentative Bibliography of Non-Literary Works of Polish Authors Translated into English (1560-1918)." The Polish Review 16, no. 4 (1971): 58-76.

External links

''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum'' online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crellius, Johannes 1590 births 1633 deaths 17th-century German Protestant theologians Polish Unitarian theologians Translators of the Bible into German 17th-century Polish writers German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German male writers 17th-century German translators